Welcome to the IHoP

[///M5 2,833]

Going slab shopping tonight... I can feel the wallet getting light just thinking about it.

Cool. Don't forget to take your flooring and cabinetry into account. The lady we bought our house from put in some gorgeous green granite, but with white cabinets it is a bitch to find a natural floor that looks good with it.

The wife came with, she is an artist. after doing the math it looks like we might have 70sq feet of countertop.

We picked something lighter than I would have ever thought of, but when we brought the sample home it turned out to be more versitile than I expected. One of the pesices we picked out for a LONG stretch has a really nice patern on it too. Almost like a big asain dragon in the stone formations. We put a sticker on the peices, but one of them they couldn't find in their invintory.... if we don't get it we will have to try another shop. That will be hell.

Don't be afraid to call places in St Cloud, sometimes they are significantly cheaper.

[///M5 2,833]

Jealous I am.

of me?

Of getting to snowboard. I haven't been out in 3 years.

4 years for me.

I'm horrible at it, but it's great fun.

I raced on the team and used to teach private lessons, but still haven't gone. Too many other distractions, although if I have to choose one thing and one thing only in the winter I'll take the snowmobile.

[///M5 2,833]

I love the E46 m3 styling. Such a sexy looking vehicle.

Just need to be bigger on the inside. Although they feel larger to me than the 9x, but I haven't sat in them back to back so I may be way off.

[dem beats 1,223]

Going slab shopping tonight... I can feel the wallet getting light just thinking about it.

Cool. Don't forget to take your flooring and cabinetry into account. The lady we bought our house from put in some gorgeous green granite, but with white cabinets it is a bitch to find a natural floor that looks good with it.

The wife came with, she is an artist. after doing the math it looks like we might have 70sq feet of countertop.

We picked something lighter than I would have ever thought of, but when we brought the sample home it turned out to be more versitile than I expected. One of the pesices we picked out for a LONG stretch has a really nice patern on it too. Almost like a big asain dragon in the stone formations. We put a sticker on the peices, but one of them they couldn't find in their invintory.... if we don't get it we will have to try another shop. That will be hell.

Don't be afraid to call places in St Cloud, sometimes they are significantly cheaper.

really good tip. Installed I'm looking at ~4300 after it's all said and done. My kitchen remodel is going to go over the 10k mark I think..... crap.

[///M5 2,833]

Going slab shopping tonight... I can feel the wallet getting light just thinking about it.

Cool. Don't forget to take your flooring and cabinetry into account. The lady we bought our house from put in some gorgeous green granite, but with white cabinets it is a bitch to find a natural floor that looks good with it.

The wife came with, she is an artist. after doing the math it looks like we might have 70sq feet of countertop.

We picked something lighter than I would have ever thought of, but when we brought the sample home it turned out to be more versitile than I expected. One of the pesices we picked out for a LONG stretch has a really nice patern on it too. Almost like a big asain dragon in the stone formations. We put a sticker on the peices, but one of them they couldn't find in their invintory.... if we don't get it we will have to try another shop. That will be hell.

Don't be afraid to call places in St Cloud, sometimes they are significantly cheaper.

really good tip. Installed I'm looking at ~4300 after it's all said and done. My kitchen remodel is going to go over the 10k mark I think..... crap.

$10k is cheap for a kitchen....my rangetop, hood, and ovens will be more than that.

[///M5 2,833]

There is a reason they call St. Cloud granite city.

[///M5 2,833]

The penitentiary in St Cloud is the 2nd longest granite wall in the world. Obviously the crazy Chinese and the great wall trump everything, but it isn't all granite either.

[dem beats 1,223]

I love the E46 m3 styling. Such a sexy looking vehicle.

Just need to be bigger on the inside. Although they feel larger to me than the 9x, but I haven't sat in them back to back so I may be way off.

I figured. It does look small.

I do fit in the 996 pretty well though so one would hope.....

[///M5 2,833]

I love the E46 m3 styling. Such a sexy looking vehicle.

Just need to be bigger on the inside. Although they feel larger to me than the 9x, but I haven't sat in them back to back so I may be way off.

I figured. It does look small.

I do fit in the 996 pretty well though so one would hope.....

Regrettably I fit really well in the 996 as well....now if they just made normal car seats for them

[dem beats 1,223]

$10k is cheap for a kitchen....my rangetop, hood, and ovens will be more than that.

I know. I only have the fridge, cook top(which I just opened), a few new cabinets, dish washer, and counter tops so far.... wall oven was free from my last house.

[dem beats 1,223]

I need a vent, but I don't want anything that comes down from the ceiling as it will really close up the kitchen....

I'll probably have to rearrange the whole lighting set up too, I think the fixture I have now will be right above my cooktop. That ain't good.

I also am going to try to strip my old cabinets. I hope that works out. I don't want to have to buy new doors etc. If it comes to that I will end up routing my own.

[dem beats 1,223]

Cook TOP

[dem beats 1,223]

see what I did there? A little TOP pun.

[seanbw 1]

see what I did there? A little TOP pun.

[///M5 2,833]

I need a vent, but I don't want anything that comes down from the ceiling as it will really close up the kitchen....

I'll probably have to rearrange the whole lighting set up too, I think the fixture I have now will be right above my cooktop. That ain't good.

I also am going to try to strip my old cabinets. I hope that works out. I don't want to have to buy new doors etc. If it comes to that I will end up routing my own.

If you want it to work it HAS to come down from the ceiling.

[///M5 2,833]

Something like this can work though:

[dem beats 1,223]

The old house we rented had an insanely powerfull fan above the cook top in the ceiling. It would make steam swirl as it rises and sucked it out.

It was amazing. Too loud, but amazing. I have seen the retractable hood, That might work... maybe..

[///M5 2,833]

The ones that retract into the counter do not work for any serious cooking and are a waste of money IMO. Capture area is more important than CFM's of fan, but of course having both is the cats meow.

If you don't do any high heat cooking it is one thing, but if you do and you actually want it to vent you need a hood.

Also, beware in MN if you have too high of a CFM they require heated make-up air to be installed. ie for a hood that flows 1200cfm I'd expect to spend at least $8k in make-up air. :eek:

[///M5 2,833]

Of course there are non-code ways to get around that...

[///M5 2,833]

Of course, I am going to need a serious hood for this:

http://www.bluestarcooking.com/pr_ct_cs_36.html

6 burner 36" beast

[///M5 2,833]

Part of the reason I am excited to sell the M5. It pays for my kitchen remodel.

Bluestar range

Independent Hood

1400cfm fan

http://www.abbaka.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Scr...ategory_Code=eb

Not sure on which ovens I want, the Wolf probably cooks the best but I am skeptical on reliability and whether it is worth the extra $$. The Bosch & Thermador are nearly identical (made in same plant) but have some different features. Again not sure if the Thermador is worth the extra. All 3 have great convection though.

Wolf

http://www.wolfappliance.com/BuiltInOvens/...iesBuiltInOvens

Bosch

http://www.boschappliances.com/kitchen-app..._HBL8650UC.html

Thermador

http://www.thermador.com/kitchen-appliance...asterpiece.html

I still have to pick a dishwasher and washer/dryer as well.

[///M5 2,833]

You realize you just burned up a couple hours of my day as I am now going to start thinking about my kitchen again.

[dem beats 1,223]

HA!

I do that.

This is my new cooktop.

http://www.dacor.com/Our-Products/Cooktops...s-Cooktops.aspx

Not as fancy, but it will really work with what we needed.

[///M5 2,833]

HA!

I do that.

This is my new cooktop.

http://www.dacor.com/Our-Products/Cooktops...s-Cooktops.aspx

Not as fancy, but it will really work with what we needed.

My brother (who is a chef) and my mother (who paid for all our family vacations by winning cooking contests) both use Dacors. They are the Rangetop style and not cooktop to get that extra burner and not have the controls up top where they are hard to clean, but very similar. Definitely works well. I might say that is fancier than what I am putting in as the Bluestar is industrial first and foremost and fancy not so much.

[///M5 2,833]

Maybe use should have been have.

Warning on the Dacor ovens though as they aren't really good at keeping temperature consistently.